j1m0ne's blog

Hahaha. You know it had to happen – as soon as I start moaning about crappy customs, they immediately deliver the goods to my doorstep \[^o^]/ So here we are, the long awaited Parade…

I got my copy of the Dream Limited Edition from CDJapan, though I didn’t actually realise they were packing in a poster until quite late on. And I immediately facepalmed, as I was sure they’d detain the package for inspection…

…since it looks about the right size to fit in a short sword or a bunch of knives and/or guns. The dreaded blue chop on the left hand side reads ‘DITAHAN Oleh Kastam’ (DETAINED By Customs).

But hey, things look in order. No bent posters or cracked CDs, packaging looks just as it usually does. Box is in very good condition too, heh.

All the stuff that’s inside, including stupid brochures that make me sad when I realise I don’t have enough cash to buy the zillion upcoming releases I’d love to own. CDJapan/Neowing are packing gods, I’ve never had anything from them that’s not in perfect condition (if there is, blame it on customs!)

The culprit that slowed the package down. It’s a Parade promo poster, the same as one of those Minorin showed off in her blog… er well, I’m not really into this kind of thing, I used to get similar freebies when I bought Jay Chou CDs and I ended up using them as mosquito swatters…

Ah, finally got my hands on Parade. The disc and the photobook are housed in a fairly sturdy box, I’m sure it won’t collapse under a mountain of CDs like some of my other albums have…

Full contents of the box – cover, poster, CD, lyric booklet and photobook. Oh, and there was an insert ad for her upcoming live tour too.

Ah yes, the photobook. Obviously I’m not going to wreck it for the sake of scans… so you’ll have to settle for poorly shot photos.

I am rather aggrieved that those ‘bromide’ photos (seen on the Lantis page) that were given away at selected stores weren’t included in the photobook T_T

But there were a bunch of similar shots, and some stupid ones of random ornaments and flowers.

Since us Minorin fans got our wish for more photos (compared to Contact) for this second album, my next request is for more photos of Minorin smiling. She seems to… frown a lot here.

LMFAO. There was a stuffed rabbit in amongst the junk you see in the photos I wonder what slice of Parade’s earnings does Mr. Taxidermist get?

Mmm. Overall I’m pretty much satisfied with what I got in return for my hard-earned cash. The music, which is actually not half bad, is secondary in Minorin’s case it seems

Oh, and the other CDs that came in the same box – Mizuhara Kaoru’s Yume no Ashioto ga Kikoeru and yet another Dew album (I’m obsessed with them lately).

So yeah, all you people who haven’t bought Parade should go get it pronto – if only for the photobook. I believe CDJapan has already run out of posters, but they sometimes (not often) restock without notice so who knows, you may get lucky?